The German Economic Model

Le résumé fourni par la source

Abstract This chapter outlines the foundations of Germany’s social market economy, which is deeply rooted in the ordoliberal tradition of coordination and consensus with the state providing the legal framework for interaction between market and non-market actors and foundations of the supporting welfare state. The main focus lies in analysing the changes Germany’s social market economy has undergone since German reunification. The partial collapse of industry in Eastern Germany, which was mainly the result of the restructuring undertaken by the government agency Treuhand, led to a steep rise in unemployment and to mounting pressures on the German economy and welfare state. The subsequent structural reforms introduced more than two decades ago—the Agenda 2010 policy—of the red-green coalition under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder have modified the institutional foundations of the social market economy and shown that they are adaptable. The most fundamental changes were introduced by the Hartz labour market reforms, which have both substantially increased the levels of precarious employment and transformed the formerly inclusive German welfare state towards activation and means-testing.

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